Hybrid Chaotic Discrete Bat Algorithm with Variable Neighborhood Search for Vehicle Routing Problem in Complex Supply Chain

Driven by the supply chain, suppliers, manufacturers and warehouses are working more closely together for improving service quality. However, tremendous cost may incur in the supply chain if transportation is not planned properly and efficiently, which frustrates enterprises in the intense market. In this paper, we present a model of vehicle routing problem in complex supply chain (VRPCSC) and propose an intelligent algorithm called hybrid chaotic discrete bat algorithm with variable neighborhood search for minimizing the purchase cost of materials, processing cost, and delivery cost along the path from suppliers, to manufacturers and warehouses in the vehicle routing problem. Based on the principles of bat algorithm, a discrete chaotic initialization strategy (DCIS) and a variable neighborhood search (VNS) are adopted to enhance the convergence capacity. Finally, two sets of experiments are conducted, which show that the proposed algorithm can solve the VRPCSC effectively.